I had a dream recently that I was walking on water. And then I woke up. But for one notable historic record this is a feat that has never been accomplished by man (Criss Angel, yours doesn’t count).

My dream was a somnambulist journey back to the recent trip I made to the Amazon Jungle in Ecuador’s Cuyabeno Natural Reserve, the north-westerly origins of the vast Amazon basin. According to rainforests.mongabay.com:

“The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The basin — roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States — covers some 40% of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname”

My wife and I made our first trip to the forests recently. Here is our daily log.

December 29, 2011

Depart on Loja bus from Quito 28th overnight journey to Lago Agrio on eastern part of the country. We traversed through the eastern Andes Range high peaks and twisty roads where the drivers think they are Michael Schumacher. Locals call it “Death Valley”. Good thing we found that out after our trip.

Arrived in Lago Agrio terminal at 3:30AM. Some basic conversational Spanish will come in to immense use here. I highly recommend Frommer’s Spanish Phrase Book for such purposes.

Lago Agrio bus terminal

At 6:30AM met our guide and our small group and then transported by bus to the entrance of the Cuyabeno reserve at El Puente.

Cuyabeno Reserve Entrance to Amazon forest

Then a canoe trip down the Cuyabeno River to the lodge arriving late afternoon. We had to do our lunch at this point which was provided as part of our tour.

Boat journey on Amazon

On the way to the Samona lodge

By 2:30PM we finally arrive at Samona Lodge after 2 hour journey on the river by boat.

Samona Lodge

After a quick wash up clean up in our rooms, we head back on the boat to commence our first excursion to see wildlife and flora of the reserve. And this is what we saw.

A baby Anaconda. The ultimate beauty of the jungle. The babies are left to survive on its own. Some get eaten by birds and caymans, but they have the instincts to become one of the deadliest predators of the jungle.

Baby Anaconda

Hanging Birds Nest

Cormorans

These birds travel with one of the species of tree monkeys. As the monkeys stir up the trees the birds pick up the insects that fall to the ground, and in return provide warning sound when danger is present for the monkeys.

Cranes

And then we chanced upon “Anna” – black Anaconda approximately 8 metres long. The Anaconda is on top of the food chain in the Amazon along with the Cayman. It can keep growing until it dies. This one appears to have feasted upon its prey not too long ago and that is why it remains dormant for 3-4 months after the feast.

“Anna” the black Anaconda

We came back several times over the next few days to get a chance to view Anna outside her habitat. We finally got the chance on our last day of the trip. You shall see. Hang on for now.

Larkycanuck is the pseudonym for the spirited, spontaneous and zestful Canadian. The Blog is focused on showcasing budget adventure travels for working families. Larkycanuck has traveled to over 15 countries, 38 cities in 10 years. He has never quit a job to do this. He travels with his wife and on some trips with the house rabbit (Pepper).